The Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 — Tools Made of Light

STOCKHOLM and LONDON, Oct. 2, 2018 — Three scientists, from the United States, France, and Canada, have been awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for advances in the field of laser physics.

On Tuesday, the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences awarded half the 9-million-kronor ($1.01 million) prize to Arthur Ashkin of the United States. The other half will be shared by Gerard Mourou of France and Canada’s Donna Strickland.

Ashkin’s work was based on the realization that the pressure of a beam of light could push microscopic objects and trap them in position. A breakthrough came in 1987 when he used the new optical tweezers to grab living bacteria without harming them.

The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...